Animal Welfare Professionals

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

Hi All.

We are a small non-profit limited intake animal shelter with very limited resources and located in a low-income area. 

We have been unable to find the right fit for our office and unfortunately the last several (yes, several) hired office staff either "embellished" their resumes and knowledge. The last one (I was not present for the interview) had a glowing reference from previous boss, and a great resume, but could not do basic computer work, including forwarding an email, or saving documents to desktop.  She could not retain training even with written step-by-step.

We need someone who already has a clue, with knowledge and common sense and will jump in and figure things out.  This has been what is missing. We are a 1-person office and will eventually hire a pt/office person to assist with coverage.  Our office can be easily managed with 1 person and a p/t employee would be an added bonus with a different primary focus. Our veterinary side of things is covered, runs well and is growing, so this office position includes everything else, including but not limited to: adoptions, communicating with community members & managing our pet pantry, social media posts ect... 

We've had great office staff previously, but since the last one left for family reasons, we just can't find the right fit. 

Obviously, we are not asking the right questions. We will be requiring a "working interview" for all new office hires, which we have not done previously.  

What are some interview questions, and/or scenarios you would ask for an Office Manager position?

Thank you in advance and please, no judgement. We are all doing the best we can in this challenging shelter environment. Note: Having Volunteers fill the roles is not an option. 

#PeopleManagement(includingVolunteerIntegration)

Like the question.   It would be great if Maddie had a comprehensive course on booting up a small office, then more in depth courses addressing topics like:

• Office essentials (physical plant)
• Staff essentials (by skill set and/or certification)
• IT hardware essentials
• Software essentials

When building an office, it can go terribly well or terribly bad. For small organizations, a bad or poorly advised implementation can be very costly in a number of ways.

While not a Shelter Manager, we are looking for 2 other part time positions to fill - one being a Maintenance Tech. We are starting to plan for major renovation of the facility and would like to improve the front office as well - facility & equipment. In the process, we'd like to offer training opportunities for our existing staff.

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Robert Shendock
Board Member
SPCA Eastern Shore
VA
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